2026 Adult READ (Read, Explore & Discover) Challenge!
Game on!
Welcome to this year's Challenges!
Here's how it works:
Be a resident of the City of Milan or its environs and/or a library card holder here!
- Choose ANY FIVE challenges from the list below and submit them throughout the summer (or all at once!) on the online forms (below).
- You’ll have til midnight on Monday, Sept. 7 (Labor Day) to complete as many challenges as you like.
- For each challenge you complete, you will receive 10 tickets for Grand Prize Drawings. Grand Prizes are gift cards to local businesses and area bookstores.
- Complete all FIVE challenges and get 10 extra drawing tickets!
- Complete any THREE challenges and we'll let you choose from our special box of neat smaller prizes!
Challenge Choices (watch for new options as we think of them!):
Read/Listen:
- Read/listen to/watch a book or DVD with the word “earth” in the title.
- Re-read a favorite book.
- Read/listen to/watch a book or DVD about the history, culture or people of the United States.
- Read or listen to a book from our Classics Collection.
- Read a type of book (mystery, sci fi, history, biography, poetry, nonfiction) or an author that’s new to you.
- Read/listen to an award winning book. (Starter List HERE)
- Read a biography of someone you admire (browse in the 921 call numbers or search biography in the catalog).
- Read/listen to a book about a place you've been or would like to visit. (Search [country or place name AND fiction]. Use facets on left to narrow down results.
- Read a book set in the state or country you were born in (we can help you identify them).
- Read a Michigan Notable Book from any year (free e-book versions here.) Or you can search in our catalog for 'michigan notable books'.
- Read about anything you want!
Do:
- Explore Kanopy and watch a tv show, movie or documentary of interest!
- Add or borrow and read a book from a Little Free Library (there is an MPL Friends Little Free Library at Wilson Park).
- Check out a cookbook and try a new recipe!
- As a staff member for a book recommendation!
- Try your hand at a new craft or hobby! (Search our catalog for calligraphy, crafts, carpentry, games, painting, ceramics, quilting, drawing, knitting, crochet, etc.) Or explore the video instruction at Craft & Hobby.
- Check out a puzzle or one of our new Library of Things items. (Search catalog for 'library of things' or "jigsaw puzzle".)
- Watch a movie that's based on a book.
- Read a book that was made into a movie.
- Let someone else read to you for a total of three hours (total, doesn’t have to be all at once!).
- Return the favor! Read to someone for three hours (again, total, doesn’t have to be all at once!).
- Write a review of one of the books you’ve read/listened to and submit it to us at the library or at info@milanlibrary.org (bonus points if you allow us to share it on social media, anonymously if you prefer).
- Explore the Michigan Activity Pass and visit a park or museum for free or discounted prices.
Learn or Do (More)!
- Pick a resource from the Michigan Electronic Library eResources collection. Poke around and find something of interest! Tell us about it! (Include the name of the resource and what you found).
- Visit one of our in-library exhibits and tell us what you learned and/or liked about it!
- Brush up on your foreign language skills or learn a new language with Mango (you can even learn to talk pirate!)
- Try out a new game from our games collection or check out a book about games (e.g. chess, cards, brain puzzles, etc.)
- Looking for expert advice on a future purchase? Head on over to Consumer Reports to get some pro tips and tell us about it!
Have (More) Fun!
- Host an informal book discussion.
- Spend an hour reading outside.
- Nominate a favorite title for our "Patron Picks" Display this summer (email it to info@milanlibrary.org).
- Watch any movie that has won Best Picture (starter list HERE)
- Check out and read 3 magazines, either from our print collection or from our Woodlands Library Cooperative Overdrive collection.
- Check out something from our Library of Things (bluetooth speaker, beach toys, outdoor games, ice cream maker, garden tools, metal detector, lawn games, and more!).
Challenge forms are LIVE!
As always, if you'd like some help picking out a title, give us a call (439-1240) or email us (info@milanlibrary.org).
Illustration encouraging unearthing a story.